Henry II of England

Henry II "Curtmantle" of England (5 March 1133-6 July 1189) was the King of England from 19 December 1154 to 6 July 1189, succeeding Stephen of Blois and preceding Richard the Lionheart. Henry was the son of Geoffrey V of Anjou and Matilda of England, and he was from the Plantagenet dynasty of the House of Anjou. In 1153, he launched a military expedition to England to claim the throne on behalf of his mother, and he forced Stephen of Blois to sign a peace treaty; Henry became the new king in 1154 after Stephen's death, and he was the first Plantagenet to rule England.

During his rule over England, Henry Curtmantle clashed with the Catholic Church over their rights in England, leading to the murder of his old friend, the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket. Soon, he became rivals with Louis VII of France, and he expanded England's lands in France at his expense. By 1172, he controlled England, eastern Ireland, large parts of Wales, and the western half of France, which became known as the "Angevin Empire" due to its rule by the Plantagenet dynasty, which was a branch of the House of Plantagenet.

Henry had eight children with Eleanor of Aquitaine, and in 1173 his heir apparent Henry the Young King began a rebellion against him alongside his other sons Richard the Lionheart and Geoffrey II of Brittany, who were assisted by Queen Eleanor. France, Scotland, the County of Flanders, County of Boulogne, and Duchy of Brittany assisted the English rebels, but Henry was able to defeat the rebels, adding several Scottish castles (such as Berwick and Edinburgh) to his realm. In 1183, Young Henry died while campaigning against King Henry in Limousin, and King Henry had to deal with his other sons' requests of land and immediate power, leading to more rebellions. In 1189, his sons began a final rebellion, and Henry was defeated by his son Richard and King Philip II of France. He was forced to retreat to Chinon, where he died of a bleeding ulcer on 6 July 1189.